Dick, I think you will find that the cost you have quoted - about USD24,500 - roughly double the American figure - is more a sad indictment of the cost of doing business in Australia, rather than what is wrong with the aviation industry here. I reckon if you factored in the straight out theft that is passed off as rent in Bankstown, the costs of compliance with workplace regulations, EPA, etc and labour cost that will be roughly double that of the US, the costs become understandable. Labour costs in this country are high because the costs of living are high, especially in Sydney, in fact about the highest in the western world.
The sooner rampant population growth is wound back in this country, the better...